In the interest of getting “hard” copies of my work under one roof, I plan to spend the next few weeks posting the entire archive of my film journalism here on ScullyVision. With due respect to the many publications I’ve written for, the internet remains quite temporary, and I’d hate to see any of my work disappear for digital reasons. As such, this gargantuan project must begin! I don’t want to do it. I hate doing it. But it needs to be done. Please note that my opinions, like everyone’s, have changed a LOT since I started, so many of these reviews will only represent a snapshot in time. Objectivity has absolutely no place in film criticism, at least not how I do it.
At what point is it okay to recast our superheroes? In a world where we’re trying to construct dense universes/franchises, it’s much more important to keep the cast as static as possible, but the reality is that actors can quit, die, or prove to be so difficult to work with that they’re not worth keeping around. This already happened twice within the MCU. First was when Ed Norton was allegedly too difficult to keep as a long term Bruce Banner. The second time was when Terence Howard, who is a literal monster that walks among us, was switched out for the infinitely more talented Don Cheadle. Yet these were both early cuts in terms of the MCU, and both are relatively minor characters (yes, the Hulk is minor compared to the other Avengers – he’s still only got one solo film). Recasting wouldn’t work for just anyone. To recast Iron Man would mean death to the character. To replace Captain America would undo all of the work that’s been put into making Steve Rogers cinematic.
But what about a character like Mystique? Granted, the X-Men franchise is less universe-minded than the MCU (it certainly plays much more loosely with continuity), but Jennifer Lawrence, now three films deep into the character, has become mostly synonymous with everyone’s favorite shape-shifting mutant. She’s also become noticeably bored.
In fact, her performance in X-Men: Apocalypse is the reason I bring this up. Lawrence, usually one to out-class anyone who shares a scene with her, is so checked out that it damages the film. Furthermore, the actress’s distaste for the large amount of body makeup resulted in the implementation of a sub-cosplay spandex bodysuit. No love lost to the properly vocal J-Law (I don’t think I’d want to sit through 8 hours of makeup either, especially if I was as allergic to it as she apparently is) but when her needs and her disinterest are a detriment to the quality of the movie, one wonders if whatever breach in continuity which may arise from recasting would be minimal in comparison.
It’s a sticky situation with an actress of Lawrence’s caliber. Her name is a box-office draw, and even at her worst, she’s still better than many. Add to that the fact that Mystique has become an anchor of the more recent X-Men films, and issuing Lawrence’s pink slip isn’t the easiest call to make.
But my opinion remains. I would much rather get a hungry unknown – someone who wants/needs the role – than someone who can collect a paycheck and move on, star power be damned.
I guess it comes down to a case-by-case basis. Brian Singer and the Apocalypse team certainly did as good a job imaginable working around the body suit (thematically tying in Mystique’s desire to appear human was a nice touch), and in doing so made a passable product (I am admittedly a big fan of the film), but I wouldn’t be surprised if future installments opt to move Mystique to the background, if not eliminate her entirely. Being a sort of non-universe, the FOX-lead franchise may find value taking a page from the MCU, whose approach to avoiding role-fatigue is to fade the current roster out of focus and then bring in a new wave of heroes. This is a smart way to mitigate any loss resultant from said fatigue, an irreconcilable contract dispute, or worse yet, death/injury.
This is new ground, and there really isn’t any one solution. As this whole cinematic-universe experiment trucks along, I’m sure we’ll encounter other unforeseen issues that will have to be dealt with, and it’ll be interesting to see how each is remedied.
Before I go, I’ll say it again: I thought X-Men: Apocalypse was (flawed, but) awesome. I even liked it better than Captain America: Civil War. Fight me.
